LABOR MARKET INFORMATION RESEARCH SURVEY . . . YOUNG COLDBROOK-AREA CONTEST WINNER CHOOSES TO DONATE PRIZE TO FAMILY IN NEED . . . REAL FOOD FOR OUR READERS . . . WOMEN BUTCHERS ARE SLICING THROUGH THE MEAT WORLD’S GLASS CEILING . . . FARMERS FROM MAN. AND P.E.I. NAMED CANADA’S OUTSTANDING YOUNG FARMERS FOR ’14 . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

FACTORS AT PLAY TODAY WILL CREATE THE FOREST OF THE 22ND CENTURY
Source: NSWOOA
Just as a person growing up in Maine in the 1860s could never have envisioned the resurgence of the forest in what was then an agricultural landscape, even those whose boots are in the woods today can’t predict what southern Maine’s forested landscape will look like 150 years from now. (read more)

MEAT PROCESSOR VOWING TO BACK TURKEY GROWERS
Gordon Fraser, left, and Eric Dixon prepare and package a beef steak for frozen orders.
A local meat and poultry processor says he is determined to reverse a ban on his killing and processing turkeys. Gordon Fraser was ordered by the province’s turkey marketing board last summer to stop accepting turkeys for slaughter from local residents and small farm operators, who have relied on his operation – which is not licensed or inspected – and have been satisfied with his work. It has left them with no local recourse, but rather licensed and inspected operations elsewhere in the province. “I’m still going to fight,” Fraser said. I still think people have a right to freedom of choice. It’s not just my operation. It’s every little operation like mine. I can’t see the sense in (the ban). I feel sorry for the small farmers. I can’t turn my back on them.” (read more)

LOOKING BACK AT OUR TOP FIVE ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF 2014
Source: FCC
At the beginning of 2014 we listed the top five most important economic issues to monitor this year. As 2014 draws to a close, it’s time to look at our assessment and reflect on what it all meant for Canadian agriculture. So how did our team do? (read more)

CHRISTMAS CARDS AVAILABLE AT THE NOVA SCOTIA ARCHIVES
Source: N.S. Dept of Communities, Culture and Heritage
Boxed sets of unique Christmas cards featuring photos of colorful Victorian whimsy and traditional black-and-white Nova Scotia winter scenes are available for purchase at the Nova Scotia Archives. The photos were selected from the archives’ scrapbook and photograph collections. The cards are blank inside and there are 12 cards and envelopes per box. (read more)

ISLAND POTATO GROWERS CAN RESUME SEED SHIPMENTS TO U.S.
Source: Island Farmer
Seed producers have received a green light to resume shipping south of the border. Officials from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were in the province in mid-October for on-site inspections. Shipments will be allowed as long as the field in which the potatoes were planted has tested negative for both PCN and potato wart. (read more)

HORSES KILLED IN TRAGIC BARN FIRE IN CENTRE VILLAGE
Source: Sackville Tribune Post
A New Brunswick family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support they’ve gotten as they try to pick up the pieces from a tragic fire that burned their barn to the ground, with 11 horses trapped inside. (read more)